Jean Todt

Jean Todt

Jean Todt was born on 25 February 1946 in Pierrefort, Cantal (France).

He has one son, Nicolas, aged 39, and shares his life with actress, film producer and UNDP Goodwill Ambassador Michelle Yeoh.

He studied economics, business and marketing at the Ecole des Cadres in Paris.

RALLY CO-DRIVER

In 1966, he began his career and participated in the World Rally Championship until 1981. That same year, alongside Guy Fréquelin, he won the World Rally Championship for Manufacturers with a Talbot Lotus.

Between 1966 and 1981, Jean Todt co-drove alongside 18 of the most successful drivers of the period for 12 major manufacturers, winning many international rallies in the process.

PEUGEOT TALBOT SPORT

He was then appointed Peugeot’s Director of Racing and founded Peugeot Talbot Sport (PTS), which claimed the Drivers’ and Manufacturers’ FIA World Rally Championship titles in 1985 and 1986 before going on to take first place in the general classification in four editions of the Paris-Dakar Rally between 1987 and 1990.

In 1990, Jean Todt became Director of Sporting Activities of the PSA Peugeot Citroën Group, overseeing Peugeot’s participation in the World Sports Car Championship, which Peugeot won in 1992. It also took two consecutive victories at the 1992 and 1993 24 Hours of Le Mans.

FERRARI

On 1 July 1993, Jean Todt left Peugeot and became Director of Ferrari’s Racing Division. Under his leadership, from 1993 to 2008, Scuderia Ferrari won 14 FIA Formula One World titles (eight Constructors’ and six Drivers’ titles, five thanks to Michael Schumacher and one with Kimi Raikkönen) and 106 Grand Prix victories.

In 2001, he took on responsibility for all motor sport activities of the Ferrari-Maserati Group and then he was appointed General Manager of Ferrari in 2004. He went on to become Chief Executive Officer in 2006. Jean Todt left Ferrari in March 2009.

FIA PRESIDENCY

Jean Todt was elected President of the Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA) on 23 October 2009.He was re-elected on 6 December 2013, and on 8 December 2017.

UN SECRETARY-GENERAL’S SPECIAL ENVOY

Since April 29 2015, Jean Todt was appointed by the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon as his Special Envoy for Road Safety and he was confirmed on April 2017 by the new UN Secretary-General António Guterres.

A great honour to receive the Prince Michael Award for #RoadSafety Decade of action from Lord George Robertson, Chairman of the @FIAFdn & many thanks to the Prince Michael for his video message: https://t.co/mWAryvoXZU

OTHER ACTIVITIES

Jean Todt also devotes his time to several charitable causes. He is one of the Founders and Vice-President of the Institut du Cerveau et de la Moelle Epinière (ICM), an institute devoted to medical research for brain and spinal cord disorders, which was set up in 2005. He has been a member of the Board of Trustees of the FIA Foundation for the Automobile and Society since 2009, President of the Board of Directors of the Suu Foundation since December 2014, Tourism Ambassador for Malaysia (2009-2015), member of the Board of Directors for the International Peace Institute (IPI) since June 2015and member of the Board of the Ban Ki-moon center for Global Citizens since Juanary 2018. He also sits on the boards of Gaumont, the Groupe Lucien Barrière, Edmond de Rothschild SA, the Friends of the Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, and the International Advisory Board of Sotheby’s. Since 2003, Jean Todt has been an Honorary President of the Federazione Auto Motoristica Sammarinese (FAMS) and Ambassador of the Republic of San Marino. He is also an Honorary Member of the Automobile Club de France, and a Member of the Polo de Paris. He has been IOC member of the Public Affairs and Social Development through Sport Commission since April 2017.

DISTINCTIONS

Jean Todt has been awarded many titles and distinctions, including:

Grand Cross of the Legion of Honour (2011)

Officer of the National Order of Merit (1991)

Gold Medal of Youth and Sports (1987)

Commander of the Italian Republic (2002)

Doctor Honoris Causa in Mechanic Engineering at Florence University (2004)

Dato Seri of Malaysia (2006)

Member of the Ukrainian Order of Prince Yaroslav the Wise (2011)

Grand Officer of the Order of Saint Agatha (San Marino) (2012)

Commander of the National Order of Merit of Senegal (2013)

Medal of the First Class of the Kingdom of Bahrain, awarded by the King (2014)

Medal of the Order of Friendship of the Russian Federation (2015)

Palme d’Or of the International Automobile Festival (2015)

Humanitarian of the Year Award by the United Nations Association of New York (2016)